


A Summer Rest Near The Garden

by MariaKono



Category: Touhou Project
Genre: F/F, My hats off backwards, Summer, it's time to fucking party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-27
Updated: 2017-06-27
Packaged: 2018-11-19 19:57:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11320599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MariaKono/pseuds/MariaKono
Summary: MamiNue one shot for the Touhou Ship Collab!https://touhoushipcollab.tumblr.com/I'm not too used to writing but i wanted to give it a try.I hope you enjoy!





	A Summer Rest Near The Garden

Cicadas' concave ringing. They echo on the many trees of the forest neighboring the hind of the Myouren Temple. Halls and bedrooms are located in this area of this Buddhist Temple. Some of them have access to the terrace, where a little private zen garden is sleeping, its wavy lines relaxing the eyes. The wooden flooring had a nice and soft texture, which made it a nice place to sit down in and meditate.

Or try to take a nap.

Covered in sweat.

That was the case of Nue.

-"Too... Hoooot..." cried the nue, agonizing on the parquet.

-"Yeah." A certain tanuki was sitting next to her, cross legged, waving back and forth the fan, breathing in and out in rhythm. "We should suppress "July" and "August" from the calendar. We're better off without them." Mamizou said.

Mamizou talked about the occidental months with their English names, instead of using the Japanese months "Shichigatsu" and "Hachigatsu", nor the season-based calendar Gensokyo uses. This made Nue question Mamizou's choice of words, as she has never heard of those before.

-"What are those?"

-"The system of months people of Europe use. Or America. I don't remember." She paused herself and took a sip of water while holding a finger up to notify that she's going to resume talking. "Did you know that there was a guy in... Europe or America, can't remember, who created two more months for the calendar? He named after himself. And they correspond to this season."

-"So that means...?"

-"Yup. Because of this guy's narcissism, we are in summer. He created summer."

-"Crap." Nue sighed. "He shouldn't have. Now look at us. We're dying". 

Mamizou glared at Nue, scanned her clothes, and chuckled.

-"You wouldn't be "dying" if you weren't wearing this all-black leather outfit... In SUMMER, Houjuu Nue-sama."

Mamizou used Nue's full name and an honorific title to mock her. She often does that. Nue is fully aware it's a little jab, but she still takes it as an insult. She lazily deployed her signature red-and-blue wings made of optical illusions as a response.

-"If I weren't DYING here I would smack your face. In the face. With my foot. With the heel."

-"Ohhhh, I'm SO scared. Point still stands, though. You should change your outfit. I think it does more harm to you than it-"

-"Mamizou. Black latex-" She pointed her arm towards Mamizou and made sure to look at her dead in the eyes, despite being lying on the back, back to her. "-and NOT leather – is REALLY COOL and I will not..."

She paused.

Birds and cicada were ringing stronger than ever. The blue sky was prominent, with very little, if none, trails of cirrus. Clouds are very rare in summer. But if there is a place where you can be sure to see them, it's Myouren Temple. Ichirin's wanyuudo, Unzan, a pink cumulonimbus type of guy, and Nue's black clouds surrounding her whenever she uses her more dangerous danmaku. Though many would classify this as "smoke". Oh yeah, and Mamizou's "poof effect" whenever she transforms. Though many would classify this as "smoke" as well.

Wha-te-ver.

Nue's skin was redder than red. Her pose was frozen in time. Her breathing couldn't be heard. Well, it could be heard, but you had to have very sensitive ears.  
Mamizou had those.

-"I think she's dead." Mamizou said, feigning not hearing the breathing with these very sensitive ears.

Nue's pointed index started to twitch. Mamizou saw a cry for help in this nervous finger shake. She swung her fan a final time and put it down next to her. She grabbed Nue's hands and dragged her on the ground like it was a dead body. At this point, it was a dead body covered in heat-inducing fabric.

-"I'm sorry to kill your style," panted Mamizou as she wiped out the sweat out of her forehead whilst pausing the dragging around, "but I'd rather have a friend with a dead sense of fashion rather than a friend with a dead soul."

Door slam.

Cicada creaks. Fresh wind blows here and there. Smell of wood. Bright yellow and blue marrying the dark hues of the porch.

Door opens.

Her skin was still a thermal stone, but Nue wasn't suffering of a heatstroke anymore. She wasn't wearing her trademark black outfit anymore as well. Instead... She was wearing Sado's Tanuki trademark summer garbs. Ecru tank top, slightly bigger than her size, but still fitting, with a pair of pink-ish shoulder pads, and a big brown big skirt covered of patterns specific of Sado's tanuki culture. She also wore wooden sandals.

-"You should feel lucky I've brought, like, three copies of that outfit!" Mamizou chuckled as she notices the contrasts of Nue's haircut, lack of tanuki features, and borrowed baggy outfit, greatly contrasting with her usually slim dresses and figure.

-"I hate you for this. Really." Nue whispered.

Nue moved forward to whence she was resting before that interruption. She made heavy CLUNKS with the wooden sandals, which she clearly isn't used to. Back in the old times, she used to have wooden sandals as shoes, before she switched to a more modern look and put red high heels instead.

She swung her body with a gentle back and forth before her butt headed violently to the sitting spot. She sat crossed legs with a tired strength of "I need to sit here", and the proud, despicable smirk that goes with it.

-"Uuuuuuugh it's still really hot but at least it's better." She sighed.

Mamizou tagged along and sat next to her, putting the left foot down, raising the left knee up and crossing the resting right leg.

-"Next time you just... Don't put a black body-hugging leather dress on a day where it's flaming hot, with no clouds above." 

Mamizou fanned hers and Nue's face.

-"That was embarrassing, Houjuu. Remember when that exact same thing happened back in the old days?"

Nue raised an eyebrow.

-"I don't see what you mean. Really."

Mamizou puffed a sigh and leaned towards Nue's face to stare at her in her dark red eyes.

-"Really?" Mamizou raised a brow as well as a smirk. "T'was, like, balls old." Mamizou taking this kind of speech was a sign of comfort for Nue. She likes hearing the way she talks like that. "Ya know. Ya weren't wearing that kind of thing you do now. But still same style: all black, intimidating, but unpractical."

-"Hey!" Nue pouted. She got a bit upset. "Unpractical? You should see that outfit you carry around as a "human" in the "human" village!"

Sigh from Mamizou.

-"Whatevaaa~! What I meant was that day, t'was summer and, like, really damn hot. We stood under a sun-free haven. Thing was, you were frying alive under that big yukata of yours."

Nue's pupils widened. Her smile as well. Just like the realization.

-"OOOOOOOOOOOH YEAAAAH THAT TIME!" She screamed with nostal-joy. "Oooooh mannnn then ya just took all the layers off me and gave me a spare yukata you had. A white yukata. I remember!"

-"Ha, suddenly you do, eh!" Mamizou tilted her head and closed her eyes in approval while adjusting her glasses.

-"What happened after that? This whole thing is completely wiped out of my brain somehow, ha." 

-"Oh, if I remember correctly... We got drunk and we snuggled. Then we kissed-"

Mamizou's cheeks were suddenly burning red. She started to move her hand erratically as if she was trying to chase the embarrassing memory away. The single thing that would make her THAT flustered were thoughts of Nue and her being romantic. Well, she likes those moments. But remembering them was making her so ruffled it was killing her internally.

-"Mamizou?" Nue asked, confused about her weird behavior. "What's the matter?"

-"N-n-n-nothing. Nothing."

-"But you're all red, dork!"

-"NOT AT ALL!"

-"Could it be... You are..."

Mamizou told herself that this was it. The final moment. She had talked too much, and now she must pay the consequences.  
She gulps. Braces herself. There's molten magma on her cheeks.  
She knew she had it coming.  
She knew she had to do it to her.

-"Suffering of a heat stroke?"

...What?

-"What?" Mamizou said, with an eye twitching.

-"You know! You're all red, you gesticulate, you stutter... You're clearly heating up! It's the clothes, right? You'd feel better if you weren't wearing that brown shirt of yours!"

-"Nue. Ecru-" She pointed her arm towards Nue and made sure to look at her dead in the eyes, sideways. "-and NOT brown – is REALLY COOL and I will not..."

She paused.

A weird atmosphere under the shadow of the temple's porch could be felt. Mamizou was stuttering, and Nue was smirking harder than ever before. It's the reverse that's always happening. But now, the tables are turned.

-"Well, well, well, Mamizou. How the turn tables!" Nue said with a cheeky smile.

-"You won this round."

Mamizou, with cheeks as grilled as ever, is forfeiting. Nue was all the happier.

-"Ha ha! You know that only me can bring you down. Not these Tengu peeps, not that shrine maiden, not that dwarfy princess, or not even that Suzunaan book renter girl or whatever. But M E E E E E!" She was moving her fingers happily as she sung that last part repetitively in a tune.

Mamizou gets her trademark pipe out of one of her pockets. And also grabbed a nearby sake bottle. And also groaned. 

-"Hahaha, becoming weaker in front of someone you cherish, THAT'S the power of... Being in love!"

Mamizou dropped everything and covered her mouth, eyes, cheeks, face, glasses, everything. Clunk and slam go the pipe and bottle. Rice-alcohol liquid was spilt everywhere on the floor. Nue budged a tad away to avoid staining the borrowed clothes.

-"Woww, Mamizou, again!" She taunted her to the breaking point, it seems. "Once again you prove to be a big d-"

Mamizou grabbed Nue's hair with her two hands, and got her face (and glasses) close enough. She had a mixed expression. A mixed expression between flustered, angry, and joyful.

-"Is that a kiss you want!? Fine, Houjuu! I'll give you that damn kiss!"

-"W-WAIT MAMIZOU, THAT'S NOT WHAT I-!" 

Cicadas' concave ringing. Their ringing was directed to the sky, to the ground, and to what's in the middle. Myouren Temple's calm atmosphere was typical of summer: dark warm colours that seemed cold, dark alleys and bedrooms, with the only source of light coming from the blinds' meager slits, silence with the only form of communication between the inhabiting youkais was faint movements and looks. It is a calm season. The whole temple was quiet. And so was the Zen garden.

Was.

Because now the tranquility of Summer has been broken by a Chimera and a Tanuki laughing, disputing, and kissing each other. Like friends, rivals, and lovers.


End file.
